KanjiN vs Other Ways to Practice Kanji
Hiro · Game Designer @ StudyXKanjiNComparison
Japanese elementary school teaches 1,026 kanji over six years. The Kanken, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Test, maps its levels 10 to 5 onto those same six school years, and learners abroad meet many of the same characters on the way through the JLPT. Whoever you are, a school child, a parent, or an adult learner, you are choosing between paper drills, test workbooks, reference pages and apps.
This post compares KanjiN (カンジン in Japan) with those options, fairly, including where the others are the better choice.
What KanjiN Does
Here is what the app offers, checked against the app itself:
- Handwriting drills. In the Writing Drill you write the kanji that matches a reading. In the Reading Drill you write the reading of a kanji in hiragana, also by hand. The app recognizes your handwriting.
- Writing and Reading Tests that check how many kanji you can write or read.
- A Stroke Order Drill for tracing each kanji neatly.
- Puzzle-style drills: Radical Sort, Category Sort, Reading Match, a Radical Builder that combines parts into kanji, and an Idiom Puzzle for four-character idioms.
- Levels by school grade (1 to 6), by Kanken level (10 to 5) and by JLPT level (N5 to N3).
- My Data, where you add your own questions (a sentence, the answer kanji and its reading), organize them in folders and sync them with iCloud.
- No ads. Today’s Drill, the Skill Check and Today’s Challenge are free. A single one-time purchase opens every drill, with no subscription.
- iPhone and iPad.
One practical note: handwriting recognition uses a Japanese model that the app downloads before your first drill, so that first start needs an internet connection.
Option 1: School Kanji Drill Books and Notebooks
The kanji drill book and the squared practice notebook are how most children in Japan learn kanji, and they work. Writing each character many times with a pencil, with とめ, はね and はらい checked by a teacher, builds both the shape and the habit. Paper costs little, and a teacher’s red pen catches things no recognizer does, such as a stroke that is present but badly balanced.
Where they differ: a notebook cannot tell a child at home whether the answer is right. Checking falls to a parent or waits for the next school day. Repetition on paper can also become copying without thinking. KanjiN’s drills ask you to produce the kanji from its reading, which is closer to a test than to copying, and the answer is checked immediately.
Option 2: Kanken Workbooks and Past Papers
If the goal is to pass a Kanken level, the association’s own materials are the obvious reference. The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation publishes official materials, including a past-paper series, sold through its official online store. A workbook matched to the level prepares you for the actual format of the test.
KanjiN covers Kanken levels 10 to 5, the elementary school range, and practices the writing and reading of those kanji by hand. It is not a mock exam and does not reproduce the test format. I think the sensible combination for a test-taker is the official materials for the format and the app for daily handwriting practice.
Option 3: Free Stroke-Order References
For looking up how a kanji is written, a free reference is enough. Our own stroke-order pages for school kanji (in Japanese) cover all 1,026 characters from grade 1 to grade 6, with a stroke-by-stroke diagram, readings and the radical for each.
A reference answers questions, but it does not test you. You can read that 右 starts with the diagonal stroke and still write it the other way tomorrow. That is the gap practice fills.
Option 4: Other Kanji Apps
There are many kanji apps, and they differ in approach. Kanji Study, for example, describes itself as vocabulary-first, covers JLPT N5 to N1, and includes writing lessons with stroke feedback. As of September 2026 its App Store page lists it as free with in-app purchases, including an all-levels purchase. For an adult learner aiming at N2 or N1, that breadth is a real advantage. Other apps focus on Kanken question banks, on stroke-order judging, or on flashcards; each has its strengths.
KanjiN’s approach is narrower and built around the hand: every writing and reading answer is handwritten, the levels follow Japanese school grades and the Kanken, and you can add your own questions for the kanji you keep missing. Among our own apps, StudyX Smartpaper Letters is the one for tracing a huge range of characters with real-time scoring on iPad and Apple Pencil, while KanjiN is the one for drills.
Side by Side
| KanjiN | Drill book and notebook | Kanken official materials | Free stroke-order pages | Other kanji apps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handwritten answers | Yes, checked by recognition | Yes, checked by a person | Yes, checked with the answer key | No | Varies |
| Reading practice | Yes, written in hiragana | Varies | Yes | Readings listed | Varies |
| Levels | Grades 1 to 6, Kanken 10 to 5, JLPT N5 to N3 | The school grade | By Kanken level | Grades 1 to 6 | Varies |
| Test-format practice | No | No | Yes | No | Varies |
| Your own questions | Yes, My Data | Write them yourself | No | No | Varies |
| Ads | None | None | None | None | Varies |
| Cost | Free to start, one-time purchase for all drills | Price of the book | Price of the book | Free | Varies |
When Another Option Is the Better Choice
- If you are studying for Kanken level 4 or above, or JLPT N2 and N1, KanjiN does not cover those levels. Official workbooks or a broader app will serve you better.
- If you want exam-format practice, use the official Kanken materials.
- If you want careful correction of balance and brushwork, a teacher with a red pen is still the best.
- If you learn best through vocabulary and flashcards, a vocabulary-first app may suit you more than a handwriting drill.
- If you only need to look up a stroke order, the free stroke-order pages are enough.
Where the App Fits
KanjiN is useful when you want to write kanji rather than tap them, have the answer checked straight away, practice at a school grade, Kanken level or JLPT level, and keep a list of your own problem kanji. It works well next to a school notebook.
For a first session, see Getting Started with KanjiN, and for the learners it suits, Who Is KanjiN For?. The app is described on the KanjiN page.
